“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.
– Franklin D. Roosevelt 

Have you ever had a conversation with a mother with two children who works full-time and is barely able to cover her monthly bills?

I have had that conversation, and I know the cost of heating has taken a toll on this mother’s ability to keep her family warm in this cold season.

This mother heats her home with an oil furnace. “My kids are in school all day so I reduce the heat until we are all home in the evening. I hope the pipes don’t freeze. I turn the heat on so we have heat for homework sessions, family time, dinner and showers, and then I turn the heat down when they go to bed.” Her children use electric space heaters to warm their bedrooms until the next day, but in spite of everything she does, there are times when her family is just cold.

An 82-year old man lives in the family home he’s owned for years. He’s responsible for household expenses, local taxes and maintenance, but he depends on Social Security and perhaps other support that make him ineligible for federal support. Each month, he asks an inconceivable question, “Should I pay for my medicine, my meal or my heat?”

And lastly, there’s the family where both parents are working and paying their bills, but like so many others, they are living month to month. They may have established an annual payment agreement with local utility company to cover heating and/or electric services for the year, but how could they anticipate how very cold this harsh winter would be? They couldn’t, and they are cold.

These families are our neighbors. Our community. They live in urban and suburban communities including Wilbraham and Hampden and in the hill towns of Monson, South Hadley and Westfield and in cities and towns throughout the Pioneer Valley.

These families are cold, and the United Way of Pioneer Valley is working fast to raise $100,000 for fuel and heating assistance through the Warming Hearts Campaign so these families, and many others like them stay warm.

This month’s Warming Hearts Campaign, is a natural response to a critical local need. I strongly believe this is not a time for a debate about the federal budget cuts for fuel and heating assistance. This is the time to raise local dollars quickly to meet the needs of those who are “the least of us.” The mothers, seniors and veterans who are committed to living independent of federal and states subsidies, but suddenly find themselves in need of a “hand up”– not a “hand out.”

And, the measure of any society, of any community, is found in how we treat the “least of us.”

The United Way of Pioneer Valley is committed to raising $100,000 for the Warming Hearts Campaign. We know people are cold. We know you can help warm the lives of your neighbors because we are all committed to living united. Give to the Warming Hearts Campaign. Donations can be made on online at www.uwpv.org, or securely through PayPal, and will be accepted even after the campaign ends.
-DORA ROBINSON, President and CEO,Unite d Way of Pioneer Valley, Springfield